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November 17, 2012

Update on Case #14 WW1 Soldier's Watch - Descendants Found!

Another happy ending! I am very pleased to let readers know that we have found the daughter-in-law and two grandsons of Ronald H. Smedley.

Ronald's watch which was given to him by the citizens of his home town for his service in WW1 was found by Chad. Chad contacted Olive Tree Genealogy for help finding Ronald's descendants so he could return the watch. The original post for Case #14 "WW1 Soldier's Pocket Watch Found in Michigan!" is here.

Ronald's grandsons and their mom have all posted comments on the original post with the story of the watch (see below).

It's great to hear from Ronald Smedley's family (Ann, Ronald and
James) but please contact me directly. I will put you in touch with
Chad, the finder of the watch.

olivetreegenealogy AT gmail DOT com

Replace AT and DOT with the appropriate symbols.

Here's what Ronald's family had to say:

james h smedley said...

hi the watch in the photo looks like the one stolden from my
parents house 30 some your ago . his name was ronald herbert smedley ,
my name is james herbert and my brother name is ronald j . my father was
herbert james , my mother sent the link to the sight ( ann smedley )she
contacted someone at the sight . she has all the imformation on him, if
that is the watch that was taken , we thought we'd never see it again .
it would really nice to know who found it and held on to it so long and
was nice enough to turn it in to you
thanks
james h smedley

Ann Smedley said...

Ronald Herbert Smedley was my father in law,his son my husband
Herbert Jamed Smedley passed away 3 yrs ago.This wathch was taken from
our house in Troy 30 yrs ago.We have to sons James Herbert and Ronald
both with here Grandfathers names.Would to have this watch back for our
sons.Would like to thank Chad for keeping it safe for all these
yrs.Would like to know how to get the watch back.Thanks so much never
thought I would see the watch again.Ann Smedley

Ronald J Smedley said...

Hello both my brother (Jim H Smedley) and my mom( Ann Smedley)
have already left a comment so basically I wanted to reconfirm what they
both said. This watch was taken from our home while we were on vacation
and thought that it was lost forever. i fondly remember looking at it
in its case when i was young. unfortunately my grandfather passed away
before i was born so i have no personal memories of him other than
pictures and few items my parents had of his( the watch being one of
them). it is amazing that after all these years it has resurfaced! i
just wish that my father was still with us to enjoy the discovery of his
father's long lost watch. i want to put out a huge thank you to the
person that found it and wanted to find the proper owner and would love
to meet them to give them a personal thanks.
Ron Smedley

I'm an incurable collector of
antiques, an avid genealogist and a messy but creative cook! I blog, i write history and genealogy books. My main genealogy website is Olive Tree Genealogy http://olivetreegenealogy.com/

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